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[PT5150]

From vhlinks...

both wolf and al wanted ed in rehab. its in the book. also, if you read the book as sad as it is, it doesn't seem like ed cares whether he gets better or not. when you beat cancer and continue to smoke, drink, and do coke, then i don't think you really care. if your wife of 20 yrs says get clean for good or i am divorcing you and your response is fuck you, divorce me. i think ed has some real bad demons and we should just hope the best and be happy with what we have from him. there are so many running around wanting new shit from ed. it pisses me off. i would rather have the memories and ed not play another note and be healthy then to be so selfish and demand stuff from him. you get the sense in val's book that he was able to stay somewhat clean and life was good between albums and tours but as soon as he hit the studio it was back to the booze and coke.

"Al made it clear that he didn't want to tour unless Ed was sober. Then the capper was when Wolfie came home extremely upset one day after a photo shoot. He'd also run out of patience and said something like "I'm telling Dad that I'm not doing the tour." He didn't want to tell me what happened or whether he'd spoken to his father about it. Soon after, though, Ed checked himself in for treatment." page 256 from Losing It.

It seems the comment about Al was there but I took it saying that the capper was Wolfie saying he would not tour was the driving force, the final straw so to speak...

[vhjay]

Wow! Ed seems so self-destructive and I can't understand why. If I had his talent and gifts, I would never harm myself, even passively.

[guitard]

vhjay wrote: Wow! Ed seems so self-destructive and I can't understand why. If I had his talent and gifts, I would never harm myself, even passively.
alcoholism = self-destruction
drug addiction = self-destruction

alcoholism + drug addiction = major self-destruction

[vhrob]

You know what... I really hope not to offend any fans here because I am a HUGE VH fan and have been since 83 and no one wants Ed to get better than I do. Also I cherrish the memories and albums, boots etc that we have all come to know and love of VH and nothing can replace that. I wish the best for Ed. I really do and getting cancer is no fun and kudos to the guy for beating it. I certainly cant understand how he feels smoking had nothing to do with it at all and continues to smoke.... come on..... Really.... come on.... :rolleyes: :rolleyes: I am not saying that is caused it but dont say that it made NO difference... thats ludicrous.....

As far as I am concerned... Ed made his own choices in life (booze, drugs, smoking etc) and he knew and still knows the risk. He has no one to blame but himself for his problems. He had a gift as a kid and still does to this day and how he lives his life and chooses to use his gift and fame and go his direction is his problem and I honestly have run out of feeling sorry for the guy. If that is true (and we all know there are 2 sides to a story) and Val told him to clean up or she was leaving and his responce was F-you get out...... well then you get what you pay for. I have relitives that have been alcoholics and druggies and I have seen them struggle with themselves and familys and its tough... But I have also seen them come through to the other side too. They didnt ride this pony for 30 years.. it took them a long time but they finally worked through it and have been clean since.
Its hard to feel sorry for someone who wont help themself. He has been going down this road for years and years and years (sober, drunk, sober, drunk, high etc. in and out of rehab... enough already dude.... get with the freaking program its been 30 freakin years.....) and after a while people run out of patience.
As a fan of VH I hope the best for them but I dont feel bad for the guy anymore...... He made his bed.. no one else...
now on that note it was GREAT to see them again with Dave back in October and I hope Ed gets well in all capacities and makes it through... but I am done following this horse and pony show.....

[UnMiked20]

As a father myself, I would hope that Ed would at least want to get clean for his son.
He's always talking about how much he loves Wolfie and he shows tons of affection for him.

I'm not being cynical about this, I'm just saying that alcoholism for all intents and purposes IS curable. I know it's a disease, so is cancer but cancer isn't a vice. And cancer isn't always treatable.

Ed obviously has the love and support of his son, his brother and his ex-wife (not to mention millions of fans out there like PT5150 who really care about the man first and the guitar god second).

[vhrob]

Quote: As a father myself, I would hope that Ed would at least want to get clean for his son.
He's always talking about how much he loves Wolfie and he shows tons of affection for him.

I'm not being cynical about this, I'm just saying that alcoholism for all intents and purposes IS curable. I know it's a disease, so is cancer but cancer isn't a vice. And cancer isn't always treatable.

Ed obviously has the love and support of his son, his brother and his ex-wife (not to mention millions of fans out there like PT5150 who really care about the man first and the guitar god second).

nicely put.... :thumb:

[steecoe]

UnMiked20 wrote: I'm just saying that alcoholism for all intents and purposes IS curable. I know it's a disease, so is cancer but cancer isn't a vice. And cancer isn't always treatable.
Alcoholism is NOT a disease, it is a CHOICE. Noone goes to the cancer store every day to buy a six pack of malignancies. That beer did not just develop in someones throat. Anyone who has a real disease should be offended by a lame ass drunk's pitiful description of his choice to drink as a disease.

[ron]

http://www.hecklerspray.com/van-halen-ditches-even-more-widdly-woo-shows/200812943.php
Quote: Rock band Van Halen's reunion tour fell into disarray on Monday when it announced it would postpone all shows through April 19 while guitarist Eddie Van Halen undergoes tests for an unspecified medical condition… According to organizers, Van Halen, 53, who has battled cancer and substance abuse, "is currently under doctors' care" and will "continue medical tests to define a course of treatment." No further details were made available.

Sounds worrying and, although his music makes us want to tear lumps of flesh out of our faces, we still hope that Eddie Van Halen's condition isn't as deadly as it's starting to sound.

Because, seriously, first Patrick Swayze and now Eddie Van Halen? Our 1980s icons are being obliterated. And these things always come in threes, so if we were Steve Guttenberg or Roland Rat we'd be bloody well cacking it at the moment.

[ron]

http://www.cinemablend.com/music/Eddie-Van-Halen-Picks-Up-Bottle-Misses-Gigs-9371.html

Quote: Eddie Van Halen Picks Up Bottle, Misses Gigs
By Mack Rawden: 2008-03-11 13:57:18

Fresh off cancelling a handful of gigs last week, Van Halen has nixed their next seventeen scheduled appearances, citing lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen’s need for “medical tests.” The boozed-up and bloated former icon recently joined a slew of trainwreck Hollywood starlets in rehab, and most insiders suspect “medical tests” are nothing more than vague euphemisms for his fall off the wagon. Hell yeah, Eddie. Way to make Diamond David Lee Roth look like the competent one with his shit together.

[rhoadsfanz5150]

For what it's worth, on the TMZ video, Val's boyfriend said it wasn't a relapse.

[UnMiked20]

steecoe wrote: UnMiked20 wrote: I'm just saying that alcoholism for all intents and purposes IS curable. I know it's a disease, so is cancer but cancer isn't a vice. And cancer isn't always treatable.
Alcoholism is NOT a disease, it is a CHOICE. Noone goes to the cancer store every day to buy a six pack of malignancies. That beer did not just develop in someones throat. Anyone who has a real disease should be offended by a lame ass drunk's pitiful description of his choice to drink as a disease.

Understood but similar to the adage "people don't die from AIDS itself, they die of the complications as a result of AIDS" alcoholism is just the vehicle....I think the real "disease" is some type of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

We can debate this forever but I would be very bummed if Ed had to permanently retire from touring just when he and Dave had patched things up.

[HalenUpNorth]

I'd like to throw in a couple of points here. First of all, you have to want to get clean and sober for yourself, and no one else. My Dad has been a recovering alcoholic for 25 years. He had to hit his personal bottom before he cried out for help. As an aside, my biggest hero is my Dad, because he beat his demons, (and I'm talking about a man who drank at least a case of beer a day, and a few bottles of rye a week).
My best thoughts, and hopes are with Ed. He has everything to gain, and a lot to lose if the story of his sobriety is, in fact, the reason behind a tour postponement.
Now then, that being said, I saw a blurb on television when Valerie started her p.r. tour for her book. When she was asked about doing coke, her reply was "well, it was the '80's, and look at who I was married to". What kind of bullshit answer is that ? Nobody held a gun to her head. That's a piss poor excuse, and a cop-out. We all have our own moral compasses, and at a certain age, we pretty much all know right from wrong.
She knew EXACTLY what she was getting into when she hooked up with Ed. She knew the VH lifestyle when they got hitched back in '81. Part of the "female mental makeup" is always wanting to change the guy they fall in love with. Sorry, but it's a fact of life, like it or not.
I was actually going to buy her book, but I'm not going to now because I get the impression it's a sob story ; "poor me, look at what I had to put up with. My husband's an alcoholic fuckup, so I'm gonna do drugs, and get fat".
There are 2 sides to every story. Sure, Ed's not an angel, but who is ? Certainly not me, and certainly not Valerie Bertinelli.
The more important issue is this ; take care of yourself Edward. We all love you, and are behind you. Hope to see you on the road soon........

[UnMiked20]

HalenUpNorth wrote: When she was asked about doing coke, her reply was "well, it was the '80's, and look at who I was married to". What kind of bullshit answer is that ?

Agree 100%!

What, is she trying to salvage her angelic "Barbara Cooper" image???
Have a cupcake and shut the f*** up!!

[Mink]

I am reading her book right now. I don't find it to be a sob story, really I think she's just telling her side of the story. It's about being unhappy with the way her life was going and putting it back together. I think she has some good insight to the way her and Eddie were living. She admits to messing up alot in the book and at least so far doesn't place all the blame on Ed. She takes credit for her part. I'm enjoying reading it.

[guitard]

I was in the store today and saw Val's book and checked it out. I looked through the photos (some pretty cool photos in there) and then read everything after the photos - skimming over most of the "I was in this movie, and then did that sitcom....etc., ect" and focused on the parts about VH, Ed and Wolf.

Maybe it was mostly in the first half of the book...but I sure wished she would have gone into more depth about things related to VH. I want to use that hamburger slogan..."Where's the beef?" I realize, it's Val's book and life story, and not VH's. But her description of the end of the Van Hagar era was basically, "Ed and Sam weren't getting along and Sam quit." And that literally was about all she said about the entire matter.

A few things that stick out in my mind...

It's obvious she (and probably Ed and Wolf) pay pretty close attention to VH related internet sites.

If not for Wolf, their marriage would have ended at least ten years sooner.

Fairly nice "insider" description to events leading up to and including the first show of the 2007/8 tour.

Val basically confirmed that Dave and Ed have a love / hate relationship but together are the creative force in VH (can't remember her exact wording - but she explained it well).